Band 6.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer
Overall Band Score: 6.0 · Cambridge IELTS 20 · 2026-10-05
IELTS Writing Task 2 question
Some people have decided to reduce the number of times they fly every year or to stop flying altogether.
Do you think the environmental benefits of this development outweigh the disadvantages for individuals and businesses?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Student answer (Band 6.0)
In the contemporary era, environment damage is the main concern across the world. In recent years, some people have chosen to reduce the number of flights every year or to stop flying altogether to minimise their negative environmental impact. However, this decision can create certain problems for businessmen and individuals. I vehemently believe that its environmental benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
One major advantage of reducing air travel is that a reduction of carbon emissions in the air. Aviation produces too much carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide because it burns pure solid fuels and particularly when travelling long distance, aviation uses more fuels. If people use trains, buses and other public transport forms for shorter journeys, it could reduce the number of flights. For instance, the government should introduce high speed trains instead of domestic airports, which can be more environementally friendly.
On the flip side, reducing air travel can create disadvatges for businesses and individuals. Firstly, people may have fewer opportunities for travel abroads, visit relatives and experieces different cultures. Secondly, businesses depend on international travel, so they may face difficulties because companies often meet their overseas clients. For instance, multinational pharmaceutical companies such as Intas, Jonson and Jonson and Zydus, they usually export and import emergency medicines by air way.
To recapitulate, although limiting air travel may restrict individuals' freedom and create challenges for international companies, it has an impacts on the long-term environment benefits. I believe gradually reduction of unnecessary flights give a positive impact on the environement.
AI examiner evaluation
| Criterion | Band |
|---|---|
| Task Achievement / Task Response | 6.0 |
| Coherence and Cohesion | 6.5 |
| Lexical Resource | 5.5 |
| Grammatical Range and Accuracy | 5.5 |
| Overall | 6.0 |
Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 6.0
The response addresses all parts of the task and presents a clear position throughout, stating that the environmental benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Relevant ideas are introduced, such as the reduction of carbon emissions and the challenges faced by businesses and international travellers. However, some ideas are more fully developed than others. For instance, the arguments regarding the disadvantages to businesses are somewhat limited and rely on listing examples rather than fully extending the reasoning. To reach a higher level, the writer needs to explore all supporting arguments with equal depth, providing more fully elaborated explanations for both sides of the debate.
Coherence and Cohesion: Band 6.5
The response presents a coherent overall arrangement with a clear progression of ideas from the introduction through body paragraphs to a concluding summary. Paragraphing is used appropriately, with each main point housed in its own distinct section. Cohesive devices are employed to connect ideas, such as "One major advantage," "On the flip side," and "To recapitulate." However, cohesion is sometimes slightly mechanical or repetitive, and referencing can occasionally feel abrupt. The transition between the general discussion of transport and the specific corporate examples lacks seamless integration, which prevents the essay from achieving a higher level of fluid progression.
Lexical Resource: Band 5.5
The writer demonstrates an adequate range of vocabulary for the task, successfully attempting less common terms such as "contemporary era," "minimise," and "multinational." However, there are noticeable inaccuracies in word choice, form, and collocation that reflect limitations in lexical precision. Examples include "environment damage" instead of environmental damage, "abroads" instead of abroad, "experieces" instead of experience, and "air way" instead of by air. Furthermore, minor spelling issues like "disadvatges" appear in the text. These errors do not impede overall communication, but they prevent the vocabulary from demonstrating the flexibility and control required for a higher band.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 5.5
The text exhibits a mix of simple and complex sentence forms, demonstrating attempts at varied structures such as conditional and subordinate clauses, as seen in "If people use trains... it could reduce..." There are some errors in grammar and punctuation, including subject-verb agreement issues like "multinational pharmaceutical companies such as... they usually export," missing articles, and awkward prepositional usage such as "on the long-term environment benefits." Fortunately, these errors rarely impede communication and the meaning remains clear. To achieve a higher level, the writer must produce a greater proportion of error-free sentences while maintaining better control over complex syntactic structures.
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